Qatar’s real estate sector “is still showing a signs of firmness and consistency” amid the “repercussions and consequences” of the oil price drop, Gulf Times reports.

Doha-based SAK Holding Group Market Watch Office says in its monthly report for April 2017 that real estate transactions in various regions of the country in the past months indicate “a state of recovery that reflects the position of the real estate sector”.

The report added that land trading and prices may improve despite an 80% drop in sales. “The real estate sector benefited from business acceleration and development projects led by the government in and out of Doha City, which created numerous investment opportunities for real estate companies, investors, and landowners, which were recently connected to new modern road networks,” the report says.

Citing data from the Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics, the report adds that a total of 1,781 building permits were issued in the first quarter of the year, 491 for building villas, 330 for building youth loans housing, in addition to 52 licences for the construction of residential buildings.

“The real estate market flow will persist in the next three years without any effect on the course of the market; it will remain relative,” the report notes.